Villanova spoiled the Big East opening of DePaul’s new arena, leading wire-to-wire en route to a 103-85 win. The home crowd never got a chance to make a difference, as the Wildcats built a lead and never looked back.

It was a complete team effort, as seven Wildcats scored in double figures.

Despite first half foul trouble, Mikal Bridges led the way with 20 points on 8-16 shooting. He added four rebounds, two assists, two steals, and a block.

Phil Booth continued his stellar play, scoring 17 points. He shot 6-9 from the floor and 4-6 from three. He also chipped in six assists, three rebounds, and a steal. Booth appears to be getting more comfortable and confident with each passing game, and figures to be a major factor for Villanova as the season progresses.

Jalen Brunson did what Jalen Brunson does, finishing with 16 points, five assists, two rebounds and a steal. He shot 7-14 from the floor while continuing to set the tone for the Wildcats.

Eric Paschall had his best game in a while, dropping in 16 points on 5-8 shooting. He also had four assists, two rebounds, two steals and a block. When Paschall is that efficient and productive offensively, the ‘Nova offense is virtually impossible to stop.

Omari Spellman continued his impressive stretch, notching yet another double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds. That makes four double-doubles in the last six games for Spellman. He shot 5-11 from the floor and 2-3 from three. He added three blocks and a steal.

Like Bridges, Donte DiVincenzo found himself in early foul trouble, limiting him in the first half. He still managed to score 11 points to go with four rebounds and four assists.

And finally, Jermaine Samuels (!) had his best game as a Wildcat. He scored 11 points on 3-3 from the floor, 1-1 from three, and 4-4 from the line. He added three rebounds and a block. He looked the most comfortable he’s looked all season, and finally appeared to be trusting his instincts and just playing basketball. The talent has always been there, and hopefully this is the first step towards unlocking it. A productive Jermaine Samuels would be huge for Villanova going forward.

The ‘Cats were fantastic offensively, shooting 54% from the floor and 48% from three. After six early turnovers, they finished with just nine. And they worked their offense with ease against an above-average defensive team.

Despite the 18-point margin and building a lead that got as large as 30, it wasn’t all peaches and cream for Villanova. The second half defense left something to be desired, as DePaul, a team that has struggled offensively this season, scored 52 second half points. Part of that was certainly due to the large lead, but it’s something you can’t do against better teams.

The ‘Cats were also less disciplined defensively in terms of fouling. They conceded an uncharacteristic 28 free-throws, and it was a rare occasion where the opponent shot more free throws than Villanova and outscored the ‘Cats from the line.

Villanova was also badly outrebounded, 50-31. Even more concerning is the 22 offensive rebounds the ‘Cats surrendered. The effects of the rebounding disparity were mitigated by DePaul’s poor shooting, the turnovers ‘Nova was able to force, and Villanova’s effectiveness offensively. But better offensive teams will punish you badly with those kinds of rebounding numbers, and a disparity like that can be enough to send you packing in a win-or-go-home situation. Villanova has been reasonably solid on the glass this season, so this isn’t a major cause for concern just yet, but it’s something that can’t become a trend.

Despite the bloated second half scoring and the rare foul fest, overall the defense was solid. DePaul shot just 41% from the field and 26% from three. ‘Nova conceded just 33 first half points while building a 15-point lead. ‘Nova also forced 17 turnovers, including eight steals, and had a field day getting out in transition. The ‘Cats also had five blocks.

Ultimately, the disparities at the foul line and on the glass serve to demonstrate how impressive of a performance it was. Anytime you are -19 in rebounds and -9 at the free-throw line and still win by 18 points, you clearly did some things right. Normally, that kind of rebounding disparity would jump out at you during the course of the game and have you pulling your hair out, but outside of a few instances it wasn’t particularly noticeable. Again, something that they will have to clean up, but the rest of the performance was so good that the rebounding difficulty was essentially meaningless.

Overall, the defensive effort was pretty good, with very few glaring breakdowns. DePaul had to work hard at the offensive end. And things were even better offensively. Bottom line: when the Wildcats are that balanced and getting that kind of production from virtually everyone on the offensive end, they are going to be very, very hard to beat.

Any road win in the Big East is a good thing, and ‘Nova did what it was supposed to do. Despite a few minor issues, it was a solid, encouraging performance.

Next up is a trip to Butler on Saturday. That game will air on CBS at 4.